Speaking up for parrots

Posted
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 1:00 pm

Foster Parrots – the parrot rescue facility in Hope Valley – announced that the Adam Ezra Band and singer Jennifer Matthews will be performing at its fifth annual fall fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 16. The outdoor concert and vegetarian buffet will be held on the grounds of the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary. Attendees are invited to tour the Sanctuary, which houses nearly 600 parrots of different species and a host of other rescued exotic animals.

The entertainment will begin at 2 p.m. with Jennifer Matthews, followed by the Adam Ezra Group. An extensive vegetarian buffet dinner will begin at 4:30. Guests will enjoy a champagne reception, open wine and beer bar and a raffle and silent auction featuring original works of art, antiques and gift baskets.

This year's fundraiser celebrates a year of sustained growth and the recent addition of an Education Hall and additional indoor and outdoor aviaries. The event also kicks off the start of the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary's Capital Campaign, a $5 million funding initiative that will transform the former "Chickadee Farms" into an important regional center for humane education and avian and other animal care. The projects will include construction of a veterinary clinic, adoption center, learning center and an enclosed free-flight garden. Founded in Rockland, Mass. in 1989 by Marc Johnson, Foster Parrots is a non-profit dedicated to the rescue and protection of unwanted or abused companion parrots and other exotic animals.

Tickets are $65 and available only in advance through www.fosterparrots.com, the Foster Parrots FaceBook page, or by sending checks to: Foster Parrots, P.O. Box 650, Rockland, MA 02370. For more information, call (781) 878-3733 or (508) 577-0180.